2011 marked the Centennial ofUS Naval Aviation, a service that started very humbly with only 2 Curtiss Pusher Biplanes in 1911. The first take off from a warship was completed by Eugene Ely on November 14th, 1910 in Virginia from the cruiser USS Birmingham which had a temporary platform erected over the bow. A few months later he completed the first landing of an aircraft on a warship on January 18th, 1911 in San Francisco, California on the cruiser USS Pennsylvania which was fitted with a temporary wooden landing deck. Sadly he died in an plane crash in Georgia in October 1911. For his contribution to Naval Aviation he was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (awarded for heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in an aerial flight).
US Naval Aviation expanded greatly during WW2 with the advent of aircraft carriers and has evolved into a large modern fleet of Super Carrier and…
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